


He Will (Never) Hurt You

by aqonoluna



Series: Can You Love Me Naked? [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst and Feels, Boyfriends, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Drama Llama, Fluff, Gossip, M/M, Original Character(s), Sad Persona 5 Protagonist, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Teenagers, Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25674154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqonoluna/pseuds/aqonoluna
Summary: When the students of Shujin Academy somehow find out Akira and Ryuji are dating, a couple of them have some not-so-stellar opinions on the matter.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: Can You Love Me Naked? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859566
Comments: 26
Kudos: 145





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like an awful person for even having this idea.
> 
> I’m sorry.

“Did you hear? Sakamoto-kun is dating that transfer student! You know, the one who’s on probation for assault. What’s his name?”

Akira frowns.

“You should ignore them, Akira,” Morgana says from his bag, rustling around to stick his head out. “They’re just gossiping. They don’t know anything.”

Coming to a halt, Akira stands off to the side to listen to the gossip being shared between the two girls standing beside the vending machines just outside the Shujin Academy entrance.

Morgana sighs, but listens with Akira.

The girl who had just spoken has long, straight black hair in pigtails. The girl she is speaking to has a short, red pixie cut and a Shujin bag on her shoulder.

“Kurusu,” the girl with the pixie cut replies. “He’s in my class. He’s actually really smart. Are you serious that he’s dating Sakamoto-kun? How’d you find out?”

“Everyone is talking about it.”

“He’s so smart, though! Why would he want to date a guy like Sakamoto? Isn’t he afraid he’ll, like, fly off the handle and hit him? Also, isn’t he kind, like, not very smart? He attacked Mr. Kamoshida, you know.”

“Maybe he thinks he can protect himself,” said the first girl, twirling a finger in her pigtails. “He’s on probation for assault, after all. I bet whoever he assaulted is ten times more dangerous than Sakamoto-kun.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” said the girl with the pixie cut, nodding. “I’m didn’t peg Sakamoto for someone who likes guys, though. Do you think all that hitting on girls he does is just a coverup for how he really feels? What do you think he sees in Kurusu, anyway? I guess he is kind of cute, but I couldn’t date someone with a criminal record like that.”

The first girl merely shrugs. “I don’t know! I always kind of figured Kurusu was weird, so maybe he somehow convinced Sakamoto to date him?”

“You think he’d do something like that?”

“Well... He is a criminal. Criminals know no bounds. It’s like, you commit one crime and you’ll commit all sorts of other crimes, too!”

“You’re probably right.” The girl with the pixie cut pauses for a brief moment. “I just think there’s better men Kurusu could date. What about Mishima? He hangs around him a lot and he’s definitely gay. I just don’t understand why he’d want to date someone who could fly off the handle at any second and hit him, criminal assault charges or not. I mean, I guess even a criminal deserves someone to treat them right.”

“You got me,” the first girl replies, twirling her pigtail once more. “I would never consider dating someone like him... Though I guess it doesn’t matter, considering he’s taken now.”

“Oh well,” the girl with the pixie cut says with a shrug. “I guess we should get to class. Come on, we can talk more about this later.”

Biting his lip and swallowing harshly, Akira steps out of the way so as to not be seen by the two girls who had just been gossiping, not wanting them to know he has been there. As he watches them run into the school, he hears Ryuji come up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“What was that about?”

Akira immediately clears his throat, forcing his tone into an evenness. He even manages to dry up the tears that had been threatening to fall without touching his face. “Just some girls gossiping.”

“Oh? About what?”

_You. They were talking about how they think you’re going to hit me._

Ryuji may be loud and vulgar and almost constantly ready to fight someone (usually just a Palace Ruler or a Shadow), but he would _never_ hit Akira. He knows that; he’s positive of that. Those girls don’t know Ryuji at all if they think he’d hurt an innocent person.

“Eh... Stupid girl stuff,” Akira replies with a shrug. “I don’t know, something about makeup or skincare or something. I just listened in case they said something important about that Mementos case Mishima sent me the other day.”

Ryuji grins brightly, kissing Akira’s temple gently. When the kiss makes him smile, wrinkling his temples, Ryuji laughs and kisses him again. “Smart,” he replies, pulling back and taking his hand. “Ready to go in?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Yeah! I definitely hear that, babe.”

Akira grins and squeezes Ryuji’s hand, laces their fingers together, and lets himself be led into the school. He may be lagging behind him a little bit, but it just means he gets a great view of his boyfriend’s butt, even if for just a few moments.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is based off an idea shared with me by YourLittleSylveon in the comments. I really hope I did your idea some justice!

“Are you sure Sakamoto-kun would hit Kurusu-kun? I dunno, I mean, look at them. Does Kurusu-kun really look like someone who’s in an abusive relationship? He’s practically sitting in Sakamoto’s lap!”

That’s a figure of speech, of course. Akira isn’t sitting in Ryuji’s lap because they’re not sitting.

Now lunchtime, Akira and Ryuji are in the enclosed area with the vending machines, having lunch with Ann. Except, Ann is the only one who’s currently eating right now — that is, of course, unless Ryuji devoting his boyfriend counts as eating. 

Instead of eating, Ryuji has his arms around Akira’s waist, his stomach pressed to his back as he places gentle kisses down his neck, having moved the collar of his turtleneck out of the way to do so. He isn’t by any sense of the term being gentle with his teeth, knowing full well he can just hide whatever marks he leaves beneath the collar.

“Who knew you bein’ such a rule follower would work so well for me,” Ryuji says hotly against Akira’s neck, tightening his hold around his waist. “I can leave whatever marks I want and you can just hide ‘em all under that do-good collar o’ yours.”

Akira groans, his legs turning to jelly and he sort of goes slack in the hold Ryuji has around his waist. In an effort to keep him standing, Ryuji lets him go and presses him up against the side of the vending machine, a hand on his hip while the other one rests above his head. He presses his midsection against Akira’s, and instead of kissing over his neck, he slams their lips together instead, gently rubbing a circle on his hip as they make out.

Akira whines, rutting his hips against Ryuji’s as his hands scramble to find purchase in his fluffy, blond hair. “Ry...” he whimpers into the kiss, wishing like hell they were somewhere more private.

Ann isn’t even paying attention to Akira and Ryuji. She elected to ignore them ten minutes ago when they started making out, favoring focusing on her lunch instead because she actually wants to eat with enough time left.

Morgana just left, going for a walk while Akira, Ryuji, and Ann are on lunch. He flat out refused to stay in Akira’s bag and listen to Ryuji and Akira suck face, no matter how happy he is that Akira is happy.

“Are you kidding?! Of course you would think that, but Sakamoto hasn’t let go of Kurusu-kun this whole time! He is totally forcing him to make out with him,” says the girl with pigtails from that morning. “Like, can’t you tell? It’s so damn obvious.”

“I dunno... I just don’t think so...” says her friend, the other girl from the morning. The girl with the pixie cut. “I just don’t see it.”

“Oh come on! Are you kidding me? You were just agreeing with me this morning!” The girl with the pigtails groans, turning to one of the other people who’ve gathered around to watch Akira and Ryuji not so secretively make out. “You! Doesn’t it look like Sakamoto is forcing Kurusu-kun to make out with him?”

“I...” The person called out, a girl with stick-straight black hair that goes down to her lower back, frowns. “I mean, no? Not really. It just kinda looks like Kurusu-kun is submissive.”

“So you do agree! Sakamoto is totally forcing Kurusu-kun to submit to him!” The girl with the pigtails turns back to her friend with the pixie cut, saying, “See? She agrees with me.”

“She didn’t say she agrees with you.”

“Eh, she practically did. It’s the same thing. You watch; Kurusu-kun is gonna start coming to school with bruises and shit and avoiding Sakamoto, and we’ll see who has the last laugh then!”

“Uh-huh...”

Ryuji finally lets Akira go, if only because Akira is starving and actually wants to eat something before their lunchtime is up. It’s not like he wants to stop making out, but he’d rather not spend the whole afternoon wishing he had eaten something.

“I can’t walk,” Akira says breathlessly. “My legs...”

“I gotcha, babe.” Ryuji grins and picks up Akira bridal-style, moving the few feet to the bench to sit down. Now, Akira is actually sitting in Ryuji’s lap. “Better?”

“How am I supposed to eat like this?”

“I can feed ya.”

Akira laughs, wrapping an arm around Ryuji’s neck to keep his balance. “You’re gonna feed me the contents of a bento box?”

“Yeah, why not? It ain’t hard.”

“You two are idiots,” Ann says with nothing but love in her tone, looking up at them. “Just let Akira eat his own food so he can get done in twenty minutes. You can go back to sucking face after school.”

Ryuji pouts. “Yes, mom,” he says in joking exasperation and lets Akira go to sit on the bench next to him. He kisses his cheek softly and steals one of the items from his box. “I’m taxin’ you.”

“Taxing me? For what?” he laughs.

“For—.”

“Excuse me,” says the girl with the pixie cut. When she gets the attention of not only Akira and Ryuji, but also Ann, she frowns. “I’m sorry for bothering you guys, but, um... Kurusu-kun and Sakamoto-kun, right? Can I ask you two something?”

Ryuji scowls at being interrupted, but Akira kisses his cheek to calm him, smiling when the scowl turns to naught more than a simple frown. He turns back to the girl with the pixie cut and nods then.

“Whadya want?”

“My name is Kato-san,” she says. “My friend, um... Well, she thinks you’d hurt Kurusu-kun and I just want to, um... hear it from you, I guess? I admit we were gossiping about you two this morning, but after seeing you two making out like that, I just... I don’t think that rumor is right.”

“Gossiping?” Ryuji frowns deeper, turning to Akira with a look of confusion on his face. “Ain’t this one of the girls you were listening to this morning? They were gossipin’ about us?”

Akira blushes, shrugging slightly. “I thought it’d upset you if I told you the truth, so I lied,” he mumbles under his breath. “I’m sorry.”

“Well, you ain’t wrong. I woulda been pissed if ida known what they were actually talkin’ about,” he says and turns back to the girl who’s standing in front of them. “That rumor ain’t right. I ain’t gonna hurt no one, least of all Akira.” Not that he needs to get into his whole history, but he does add, “I haven’t hurt anyone who didn’t try hurtin’ me first.”

“So, Mr. Kamoshida hurt you first, just like he did to Takamaki-san, Suzui-san, and all the others,” she says, mostly extrapolating. No one ever talked about that; it was always about how Kamoshida was sexually harassing the women or abusing the volleyball team. When her deduction awards her a nod, she says, “I think you two are cute together. I’m surprised, though; I didn’t know you liked men.”

“I like Akira,” he says simply, “and Akira likes pretty much everyone.”

Akira nods in response to Ryuji’s comment. It isn’t a false way of putting it, if a little lenient. He, by no means, likes _everyone_ but he is bisexual.

“Are you all right Kurusu-kun?” Kato asks, frowning. “You haven’t really said anything and Sakamoto’s been speaking a lot for you...”

“He doesn’t like talkin’ to strangers.”

“You, ah, don’t have to leave, Kato-chan,” Akira says, clearing his throat, looking down at the bento box in his lap. He knows how it looks, him not really talking to her after she’s come over with the intention of debunking the insane accusations that Ryuji is abusive. “You’re welcome to join us if you have more questions, or... if you just wanna join us.”

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna intrude.”

“It’s fine!” Ann laughs. “I need a girl to have lunch with and you seem nice. Come sit down me to me, Kato-chan; I can tell you all you wanna know about these two.”

“I can speak for myself, y’know!” Ryuji scowls.

Kato-san laughs and sits down next to Ann. “Thank you,” she says, digging through her Shujin bag to find her lunch. A small, homemade bento box. She sets her bag down on the ground and puts her lunch in her lap. “I appreciate the invitation.”

“All right then,” Ryuji says, leaning forward, still stealing bits from Akira’s lunch because he forgot to bring his own, and Akira’s lunch is huge. “What is it ya wanna know?”

“Are you actually a criminal?” Kato-san asks Akira.

“No.”

“Then how come you transferred to Shujin Academy?”

“I was expelled from my old school because I was charged with assault.”

“You’re not a criminal, though?”

“No.”

Kato-chan nods and turns to Ryuji, satisfied that she understands what Akira is trying to say. The assault charges are false and he didn’t actually hurt anyone.

“You didn’t actually attack Mr. Kamoshida?”

“Mr. Kamoshida is a shitbag who didn’t like our track team. He broke my leg and called it self-defense and this whole goddamn school just believed him. Ain’t nothin’ came up about it after that assembly where he admitted his shit, which really pissed me off.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Who the eff woulda believed me? It didn’t come from the horse’s mouth or nothin’ so no one woulda believed me if I said somethin’ about it.”

“That isn’t fair to you.”

“Yeah, well... life isn’t fair and then ya die, I guess,” Ryuji says, shrugging. When he glances at Akira, seeing him frown, he frowns, as well. “Ah, but... I guess sometimes life also introduces you to someone as sweet and kind as Akira, so I guess I’m not in too much of a hurry to die as I was.”

Akira grins, pressing a kiss to Ryuji’s cheek and resting his head on his shoulder. “I love you, too,” he murmurs happily, still picking at his lunch.

“My friend is insane,” Kato-san decides right then and there. “There’s no way you’re hurting Kurusu-kun. I’m sorry so many nasty rumors even go around about you three,” she says. “I’m sorry for ever participating.”

“You’re welcome to eat lunch with us anytime you want, Kato-chan,” Ann says, a bright grin on her face. “Just... let us know ahead of time, okay? You know... so Akira can be prepared for it.”

That isn’t necessarily the reason. It’s actually so they can ensure they’re not talking about Phantom Thieves stuff when a stranger comes around. However, it’s easy enough to use the fact Akira is introverted around strangers as an excuse for needing advance notice.

“Of course. I can do that.” Kato-san smiles at Akira and nods. “Thank you for letting me talk to you guys.”


End file.
